When Cho Met Cedric
by thelustlesswonder
Summary: Cho visits Cedric's grave and remembers how they first met, among other things. Rather depressing.
1. Seven Minutes In Heaven

All characters are copyright J.K. Rowling and Scholastic, 1991-forever. I only take credit for this depressing story. Please review, good/bad, it's all appreciated!

Here goes...

A light summer rain pitter-pattered on the roof of the almost empty muggle bus. Cho Chang sat, dressed completely in black, holding two fresh daisies in her lap. She was taking the bus to the town where Cedric Diggory had lived, so that she may visit his grave. She hadn't wanted to bother her parents to take her there again, and anyway she didn't want them to comfort her when she cried. She needed to just let it out.

The radio was playing, and for some unknown reason, an American song came on suddenly: "There is always that one person who will always have your heart. You never see it coming 'cause you're blinded from the start..." Cho gasped and looked up, not seeing anything, but for Cedric's smiling face in her mind's eye.

The bus stopped and Cho wanted to hear the rest of the song, but she needed to get going before the bus took her to who-knows-where, and anyway this wasn't really Cho's type of music, she was merely interested in the lyrics.

The rain, coupled with the fact that it was early morning, created a freaky sort of mist in the graveyard. Cho walked through it, barely disturbing a wisp of the shining substance, on the familiar path towards the plot were her former boyfriend was buried.

At sixteen, a year after his death, she still couldn't bear to read the inscription on his headstone, "A life to live, not yours to give, you were ours and ours and ours." Cho didn't understand this, but apparently it was from a poem Cedric had written when he was eight and his mother's owl had died.

Cho sat in the mud and placed her daisies in the soil over Cedric's grave. She could remember when the daisy became "their flower"...

Fourteen and just starting to really like each other, Cho and Cedric snuck out of their dorm rooms, out of their houses, and met in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts. It was early in the school year, mid October, and the leaves of the Forbidden Forest were just beginning to turn: crimson, violet, silver, azure... A magical forest is really something to behold in the fall. As the young couple walked around the lake, full moon shining above them surrounded by thousands of stars, Cedric took his hand from behind his back and produced a single, somewhat squashed, daisy. "For you," he said, handing it to Cho.

"But a daisy is so... so plain..." Cho had said, extremely disappointed and nearly ready to cry at the fact that Cedric only liked her as much as a common, non-magical weed.

"Exactly. That's what makes it so special. It took me hours to find one, they're not normally found in such a magical area. Professor Sprout says there're only two on all the grounds, both in Greenhouse Four. I told her it was for someone really special. See, outside of Hogwarts it may be common, but in here, daises are really rare, and because they aren't magic, that makes them even more special." Cho threw her arms around him and they held the embrace for an eternity of bliss...

Back in the present, Cho smiled tearfully. She loved the side of Cedric she had known... not "pretty boy Diggory" as many knew him, but kind, sweet, sensitive... her soulmate.

Reaching out a trembling hand, she placed a hand on the cold, smooth headstone. It was almost reassuring. It may have represented the harsh truth that Cedric would never again hold her in his strong arms, but somehow it was calming just the same. She may not have him, but she had her memories. And the sweetest memory of all was the nice boy Cho had met in her third year...

Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and a few Gryffindors, all in their third year, were outside in a circle one sunny Saturday. They were in a clearing at the very edge of the forbidden forest, and there were several smaller clearings just nearby. Cho was standing across the circle from Cedric. They were both looking at each other, pretending not to, and pretending they didn't notice the other staring. Cho had a few spots, and was very self-councious, being one of the "smallest" girls there, if you catch my drift. She was larger only than Marietta, who at the time was in one of the side clearings making out with a rather ugly Ravenclaw boy.

The game was Seven Minutes in Heaven. Cedric Diggory had a reputation for being very good at the game, and God (a Gryffindor this time) had just picked his name from her hat. "And..." she announced mischeviously, knowing every girl (and perhaps a few of the guys) wanted their name to be picked next, "Cho Chang! Go, girl!" Everyone was smiling and patting her on the back, but Cho didn't even want to be there. Marietta had dragged her there, then left her atleast a half hour ago.

She walked numbly to the clearing that had been vacated moments before. Cedric arrived just after her, but it seemed to take a long time. "Well," he said, seeming eager to be there with Cho, "Let's do this."

He began to walk towards her. This was a nightmare. Cho was terrified. She had never kissed a boy, and couldn't believe Marietta had gotten her into this. 'Anything happen, please save me! Something, anything...' Cho thought deseperately. 


	2. Let's Not Pretend

J.K. Rowling's characters. My events.

He began to walk towards her. This was a nightmare. Cho was terrified. She had never kissed a boy, and couldn't believe Marietta had gotten her into this. 'Anything happen, please save me! Something, anything...' Cho thought deseperately.

"Stop," Cho finally found her voice when Cedric put his hand on her arm. "I-don't-want-to-do-this-sorry!"

Cedric blinked. For one wild moment, Cho thought he was going to kiss her anyway. Then her took his hand off her arm and said, "You're right. We don't know each other. Let's just talk. But... can people think we made out? You know, I've sorta got a reputation..." Cedric's eye's pleaded with her, nearly begging.

Cho smiled with relief. "Whatever, Diggory."

"You can call me Cedric. You're really pretty..."

"Thanks, but we're still not going to kiss." Cho actally laughed at Cedric's look of disappointment. "You don't want to kiss me anyway. I've never kissed a guy, I must be terrible." Before Cedric could say anything to change her mind, Cho tried to start a conversation. "So, uh, what's your favorite class?"

"Class? Tch. I like Quidditch. I'm on the Hufflepuff team, you know."

"I know. I've seen you fly, you're really good. I'm thinking of trying out for the Ravenclaw team next year. I loved flying in first year. I wonder why we didn't keep having lessons? It was great!" Cho gushed. Cedric seemed easy to talk to, and without the daunting idea of having to kiss, Cho was quite at ease.

"You can ride my broomstick sometime, if you like." Cedric suddenly blushed furiously, wincing with embarassment. "I mean -!"

"I know." Cho smiled again...

The mourning Cho in the graveyard, a little over three years later, smiled too. They had gotten to know each other quite a bit that day. They had a lot in common. Over the months, they both participated in every Saturday's game of Seven Minutes. Quickly, "God" stopped drawing names from a hat and began picking the people that seemed to like each other. Naturally, this meant Cedric and Cho were always alone in a clearing, and they began to meet in empty classrooms on their breaks too. Always just to talk, and always just as friends, but they never once said anything against the rumours that they were dating and second-basing it daily.

Finally, a day nearly six months after that first day in a clearing, they found themselves once again in that same spot, same predicament.

"You know..." Cho said tentatively, "everyone thinks we're kissing... why bother... pretending, you know, um leading them on... we could, really... um..."

"..." Cedric flashed her his trademark smile, the one full of affection that was reserved only for Cho. He had not tried to make a move on her since that very first day, and it seemed ages ago. "Would it be your first?"

"Well... yeah..." Cho blushed faintly and looked at the ground. Suddenly Cedric's trainers were in her line of vision. She felt his hand on her arm and she looked up slowly. His expression was, for the most part, serious, but his eyes were full of happiness and love.

"It's OK..." he said softly. They were very close now, close enough to feel each other's warm breath. Closer and closer and closer, everything in slow motion. Cho instinctively closed her eyes, and then their lips met.

Bliss erupted in Cho's mind, she could swear she was seeing fireworks, floating away. Was she still standing? What was she wearing that day? What was her name again? Everything was lost but for the happiest, warmest feeling Cho had ever experienced. This, truly, was more magical than anything they were taught at school...

Three and a half years later, forty two miles to the southeast, and on a rainy summer's day, Cho Chang began to cry softly. The greif was becoming too much for her and soon she was sobbing like her whole world had ended. And, in a way, it had.

"Cedric!" she choked. "CEDRIC! Come back, come back..." Her voice was strangled with tears and it rang like a mourning bell through the misty graveyard.

Cho slowly stopped crying, and slumped into the mud near Cedric's grave. She was being ridiculous, and overly dramatic, she knew. But nothing was enough anymore, not now that her Cedric was gone. Food had no taste, and she was still hungry afterwards. Everyone else was moving on around her, but it was like she was stuck. She could see no way that it could possibly get better.

Cho could remember turning to Harry Potter, trying to find some consolation in associating herself with the boy that had been there when Cedric died, but that hadn't helped at all. Harry seemed unable to feel pity for anyone but himself.

Lying in the mud, Cho could feel the cold dead of the ground beneath her, and the warm life of the rain above. She wanted to go into the ground and never come out. The living were too happy. The dead would understand how much this hurt, wouldn't they?

Cho realised with an odd pang that she must be losing her mind. Lying in the mud of a graveyard, letting rain run into her eyes so that she couldn't tell if she was still crying or not, miles away from home, and no one around to hear her scream.

"No one to hear me scream..." she mumbled aloud. "CEDRIC I STILL LOVE YOU! I'M SORRY! I'm sorry..." She crumbled into a fresh wave of tears. Being overly dramatic again, but she didn't care.

Cho could remember the first time she had ever screamed Cedric's name. She had snuck into the prefect's washroom and waited for him, because she knew he was going to come in there sooner or later. It was the night before the first task of the TriWizard Tournament. She wanted to wish him luck, and one thing led to another and before long Cho had lost her virginity to Cedric Diggory. She was OK with it though, because at that point she knew they would be together forever. She had once jokingly told him that she thought Cho Diggory sounded odd and wanted to keep her last name. He said that was fine, as long as he got to name their first three kids. It became a sort of inside joke, and for a while, in front of all their friends, Cedric would suddenly say a rather dumb sounding name like "Cho Junior," or "Pinky.. not as a nickname, just Pinky..." or "Hubert!". No one else ever knew why this made Cho laugh so hard.

Cho put a trembling hand into the mud near her face, starting to make a nice handprint. As she did, she saw Cedric's ring on her finger, the one he had given to her before the start of the third TriWizard Tournament event. He had given her this ring just hours before he died... 


	3. Toast With Mud

J.K. Rowling's characters. My events.

Cho put a trembling hand into the mud near her face, starting to make a nice handprint. As she did, she saw Cedric's ring on her finger, the one he had given to her before the start of the third TriWizard Tournament event. He had given her this ring just hours before he died...

"I'm not that nervous." Cedric announced, plopping himself down at the Ravenclaw table. "It's only a maze with a few charms and creatures... I bet even Harry will be able to do it."

"Ced!" Cho said in mock horror. "Come on, he's only one year younger... and if you remember, you and him are tied for first place..."

"I suppose." Cedric gave her a small kiss, just to apologize for being somewhat rude to Harry. "Pass the jam?"

As Cho handed her boyfriend the strawberry jam (knowing he disliked raspberry), she noticed something silver glinting on his hand. "Where did you get that ring?"

"My mom gave it to me for Christmas this year. I wore it for the second task for good luck, but I won't need luck today. Will you wear it for me?"

Cho smiled. "Alright. I'll give it back when you come out of that maze holding the Cup, and not a minute before."

"It's a deal" Cedric grinned and lovingly placed the ring on Cho's hand as though it was an engagement ring...

Cho had ran out of tears to cry, but she gave a small sob as she remembered the last day she had seen Cedric alive.

Her hand print was finished and she removed her hand from the mud. She wiped her muddy hand on her black dress and smiled faintly at yet another flashback...

Fourth year, the day after a huge rain storm, and Cho found herself on the muddy banks of the lake. She had just failed another piece of Arithmancy homework. She wanted to drop the class, but it really was an interesting subject, even if she didn't understand it.

She sat, as still as could be, and looked out over the lake. She had her feet firmly infront of her and she was hugging her knees.

She was concentrating on making a branch fall from a tree across the lake, just to keep her mind off her failure. She was also wondering if she was at all psychic, just for fun. "Fall, fall, fall," she murmured.

"No thanks, I'd get all muddy," said a familiar voice from behind her. Cho turned, frowning dejectedly.

"I got another zero in Arithmancy. I'm going to fail that class. I needed to get away from it."

Cedric grinned and sat beside her, clearly not caring about the mud. He took her hand and said, "I'll help you next time."

"You don't even take Arithmancy!" Cho smiled ruefully, wishing he really could help her.

"I don't have to. You take it."

"What?"

"Got you!" Cedric pushed Cho's hand into the mud, leaving a neat handprint. He leapt up and took a few steps away, clearly challenging her to chase him.

"Ack!" Cho shreiked playfully and flung a tiny handful of mud at Cedric's head. It landed on his shoulder with a "Splomft!" and oozed down his arm. "Eww!"

She scrambled to her feet as Cedric pelted her with small bunches of wet mud. Soon it was an all out war, the two of them yelling and laughing and getting completely coated in mud. They spent atleast an hour chasing each other around with mud and the occasional purple earth worm.

Finally, Cho had Cedric cornered. Cedric had one last mud ball, and he was standing on a rock overlooking the lake that students often dove off of when the water was warmer. Cho was standing ankle deep in the mud, but her hands were empty.

Cedric's last bit of mud flew through the air and hit Cho at the top of her forehead, so that the mud slid into her hair. "I'm gonna get you for that!"

Instead of grabbing mud, Cho ran at Cedric and tackled him, sending them both into the lake. They came up laughing and stumbled ashore to collapse on a patch of grass, where they lay hand in hand, giggling, until the sun began to set... 


	4. I came to see Cedric

J.K. Rowling's characters. My events. 

Instead of grabbing mud, Cho ran at Cedric and tackled him, sending them both into the lake. They came up laughing and stumbled ashore to collapse on a patch of grass, where they lay hand in hand, giggling, until the sun began to set...

"I aced my next Arithmancy test," Cho said aloud. "Thanks, Ced."

She slowly sat up. It had stopped raining and the mist was beginning to clear. The sun peeked out from behind a cloud and the entire graveyard seemed to glow with a golden light. A pale, shimmery rainbow was beginning to form above her.

Cho looked around herself, smiling faintly. She seemed to be opening a new door in her life. She was going to be OK.

Her almond shaped eyes fell upon a few daisies growing nearby. It was like Cedric had put them there for her. "Yes Cedric... I'm going to be okay."

Eyes shining and filled with hope, the muddy Cho stood and walked out of the graveyard. Down the dirt roads, past row after row of identical houses, until she reached the bus stop. Then, as though acting on command, she nodded curtly, turned swiftly, and walked down a few streets until she found the familiar house she had visited the previous summer.

She knocked on the door and was welcomed by a rather shocked and flour-covered Mrs Diggory, a somewhat doughy rolling pin in her left hand. "Cho, dear, whatever are you doing here?"

"I came to see Cedric's grave," Cho replied. "And I thought I'd come and say 'hello', and see if you were doing alright."

Mrs Diggory's eyes filled with tears and she caught Cho in a warm embrace, mud, flour, rolling pin and all. "Yes, I'm fine... I'm fine..."

"We're all okay." Cho couldn't remember her mouth forming the words, but it was her voice that spoke them, steady and clear, as she hugged the mother of her deceased beloved.

THE END! Hope you liked :) Review please and thanks, I know there are some things that need to be changed so tell me about them lol!


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